By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — Los Fresnos High School ran out of time against McAllen Memorial in the end, but it was the Falcons’ early mistakes that proved most costly.
After being knotted at the half, Friday night’s game took a heartbreaking turn for LFHS when the Mustangs’ Emilio Mendez scored on a 14-yard run with 1:08 to play to help McAllen Memorial prevail 32-30 in The Brownsville Herald’s Game of the Week at Leo Aguilar Stadium.
“Our special teams killed us and we have to get that corrected,” Los Fresnos coach Patrick Brown said. “Just terrible breaks and you give a power team like that basically four times in the red zone … it was tough. Give (McAllen Memorial) credit, they did what they did and came out of here with a win, but you have a sick feeling in your stomach when you know one got away.”
The Falcons (2-1) had a final try at a win at the end, but were only able to get to the Memorial 40-yard line before the clock expired. LFHS had taken a 30-26 lead on an 11-yard touchdown scamper by John Salazar with 5:04 left in the game. But the Mustangs (2-2) drove down the field and into the end zone in just under four minutes to snatch victory away from the Falcons.
“We caused some turnovers and our kids never doubted, they kept playing hard every play,” McAllen Memorial coach Bill Littleton said. “We battled back. All the credit goes to our kids. It was a total team effort in all three phases of the ballgame.”
Mendez ran for 110 yards and three touchdowns for the Mustangs, who racked up 286 yards on the ground.
Salazar rushed for 137 yards on 15 carries with three touchdowns to lead Los Fresnos, which totaled 379 yards of offense, including 254 on the ground.
The Falcons didn’t make it easy for themselves with several mistakes that gave Memorial short fields and opportunities to stay in the game.
The Mustangs scored on four possessions, including three in the first half, following mistakes committed by LFHS. Memorial recovered a punt on its opening drive after the ball hit a Falcons player. The unlucky bounce for the Falcons turned into a 6-yard touchdown run for Mendez and a 6-0 lead for the visitors.
Los Fresnos responded, however, and took control with scores on three straight series. After a 43-yard field goal by Alejandro Fragoso in the first quarter, quarterback Mark Mata hit Nicholas Valencia on a 17-yard pass for a touchdown with 9:39 left in the second. Four minutes later, Salazar found pay dirt after a 25-yard run to take a 16-6 advantage midway through the period.
As the game inched toward halftime, a botched snap on a Los Fresnos punt attempt gave the ball to Memorial on the hosts’ 12-yard line. Moments later, a 5-yard touchdown run by Campbell Speights had the Mustangs within three.
Memorial struck again on LFHS’ next drive when Mata threw an interception into the hands of Mustang defender Isagani Luistro.
The turnover led to a 42-yard field goal by Ricky Garcia to tie the game at 16.
Los Fresnos regained the lead in the third quarter on Salazar’s second touchdown, a 1-yard dive into the end zone to take a 23-16 lead.
Early in the fourth, Mendez found the end zone again with a 1-yard plunge to tie the game at 23. After another interception, McAllen Memorial took a 26-23 lead with another field goal by Garcia, this one coming from 34 yards out with 7:56 to play.
The Falcons’ defense was getting noticeably tired toward the end and was unable to get the stop it needed late in the game.
Brown took the blame for the outcome.
“Our kids played their ass off, that’s on (the coaches) not having them ready to play. That’s 100 percent on me,” he said. “We put our defense in horrible situations. They probably played two or three times more plays than they should have.”
Regardless, Littleton and his team will take it. The win stops a two-game skid and the Mustangs now enter district play with the benefit of a winning week.
“Our record doesn’t indicate what kind of football team we are; we played a very tough schedule,” Littleton added. “They kept battling, they kept believing and it was a big win and a big motivation going into district. Winning cures a lot of things.”
Although Brown and the Falcons wanted to finish their non-district schedule unbeaten, he’s anxious to see how his team reacts to the narrow defeat as Los Fresnos begins its District 32-6A slate next week.
“We’re 0-0 and we’re going to see very quickly what type of response we get from our kids,” Brown said. “But I’m very sure they’re going to show up at 8 a.m. (today) and ready to get to work.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.